Corn-shelling and fodder-shredding attachment for treshing-machines.



No. 634,796. Patented act. :0, I899.

E. .1. BEALE.

GOB N SHELLING AND FODDEB SHREDBING ATTACHMENT FOB THBESHING MACHINES.

(Applicution filed Feb. 26, 1898.)

2 Shaw -Sheet I.

(No Model.)

r IIIIIIIIIIIIIKIE n5;

mi%fwa4 No. 634,796. Pacentgd Ot. 10, I899 E. J. BEAL-E. CORN SHELLINGAND FUDDER SNBEDBING ATTAOHIENT F08 THRESHING, MACHINES.

(Application filed 'nb. 26, 1am (No Model.) 2 Shoots-Sheat 2.

W] W I U: h

no: uomus runs an wmmov. wsnmarom a c.

v UNITED STAT-ES f PATENT OFFICE.

, EDWIN J. BEVALE, or come couNTY, ILLINOIS.

CORN-SHELLlNGAND FODDER -SHREDDING ATTACHMENT FOR THRESHING-MACHINES V VSPECICFIGATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 634,796, dated October10-, 1899.

Application filed February 26, 1398. Serial No. 671,760. (No model) Toall iii/wilt it 712 003 concern:

Be it known thatI, EDWIN J. BEALE,'acitizen of the United States,residing in the county of Coles'and State of Illinois,have invented anew and useful Corn-shelling and Fodder-ShreddingAttachment forThreshing- Machines, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention is a corn-shelling and fod-' der-shredding attachment tothreshing-machines by which I am able to mutilate and tear thecorn-husks which enshroud the ear, out up and shred the fodder, andmechanically separate the grains of corn from the fodder and refuse allin .one continuous operation, thereby utilizing the threshing-cylinder,the cleaning-shoe, and the other workin g parts of the threshing-machinein the operation of cleaning the grains of corn from the refuse.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved applianceinwhich the parts are arranged for reversalin operative relation to eachother, so that the sharp edges of the teeth or blades may be presentedto the ears and fodder for operating thereon, whereby when the teethbecome dulled through service the concaves and cylinders may be reversedto bring the sharp edges of the teeth or knives into service, therebygreatly prolonging the life of the appliance. I

To the accomplishment of these ends my invention consists in thecombination, with a threshing-machine and the threshing-cylinderthereof, of a corn-shelling cylinder situated in close relation to andin advance of 'the threshing-cylinder, a shelling-concave inoperativerelation :to the shelling-cylinder, a

of corn may pass tothe grain-pan of the threshing-machine and theinvention further consists in the novel combination of elements and inthe construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

To enable others to understand my inven- 'tion,I haveillustrated oneembodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, and in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation showingparts of a threshing-machine with my corn shelling and shreddingappliance in operative relation to the threshing-cylinder.

1. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation similar to Fig. 1, but showing theforce-feed cylinder Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts represented byFig.-

and the shelling-concave in operative relation to the lower side of theshelling-cylinder, the feed mechanism being changed or' adjusted to feedthe ears and fodder to the shelling and force-feed cylinders. Fig. at isa sectional elevation of another arrangement of the shelling mechanism.Fig. 5 is a detail view, on an enlarged scale, of one of thedouble-edged reversible teeth used in my shelling and shreddingmechanism.

Like numerals of reference denote like and corresponding parts in eachof the figures of the drawings.

In order that others skilled in the art to which this invention relatesmay understand my improved appliance, I haveillustrated the sameinoperative relation to athreshing-machine in .the accompanying dra'wings.

It is to be understood that the threshing- -machine or separator, persc, forms no part of my invention, which relates to an appliance adaptedfor use inc onneciion with ordinary threshing-machines to use theworking parts of the latter as a means for mechanically separating thehusks, fodder, and other refuse from the grains of corn. 1

The frame or casing of the threshing-machine is indicated at 1, thethreshing-cylinder at 2, and the grain-pan at 3; but in the preferredembodiment of thisinven tion I replace the cylinder-spikes withshredding-teeth of peculiar form and employ a new construction ofconcave for use in connection with said threshingcylinder for thepurpose of completing the shredding and mutilation of the fodder priorto the delivery of tho fodder and refuse from the threshing mechanism tothe cleaning and separating mechanism proper of the threshing-machine.

To apply my invention to a threshing-machine, I resort to acarrying-frame 5, which is of any suitable or preferred construction andrigidly fastened to the machine casing or frame 1 for the purpose ofsustaining the shelling-cylinder 6 in advance of the threshingcylinder2. This shelling-cylinder lies in substantially the same horizontalplane as the threshing-cylinder, and it is parallel therewith; but theshelling and threshing cylinders are separated a suitable distance fromeach other to permit the crushed ears of corn and the partially-shreddedfodder to pass between the cylinders and to the concave of thethreshing-cylinder. The horizontal shellingcylinder 6 has its shaft 7journaled in-suitable bearings 8,.secured on the carrying-frame 5 of theattachment, and one end of'the cylinder-shaft 7 is extended or prolongedbeyond said carrying-frame for the reception of the belt-pulley 9, bywhich the shelling-cylinder is positively driven.

For properly removing the grains from the ears of corn I employ ashelling-concave 10,

which lies in close operative relation to the cylinder 6, and inconnection with the shelling cylinder and concave a force-feed cylinder11 is employed for the purpose of partially cutting the fodder and ofcrushing the cars, so as to feed the latter between the cylinder andconcave 6 l0, respectively.v

The shelling-cylinder 6 is provided on its cylindrical surface with aplurality of doubleedged teeth 12, arranged in any suitable orderthereon and'att-ached thereto in any desirable way. The face of theconcave, which is opposed to the toothed surface of theshelling-cylinder is likewise provided with a plurality of double-edgedteeth 13, which are also arranged in any suitable manner on the concave,but which should be so disposed thereon as to provide for the freerotation of the shelling-cylinder without the teeth thereof coming incontact with the teeth 13 of said concave, and, finally, the force-feedcylinder 11 is equipped with a plurality of doubleedged teeth 15, whichare attached to said cylinder in asuitable manner and aredetachablying-cylinder to properly feed the same to the space or openingbetween the cylinder and Games concave 6 10, and its knives 15 arecaused to cut the fodder in short pieces. The cylinder 11 is carried byashaft 16, journaled in bearings 17, suitably mounted on the frame 5 ofthe attachment, and one end of this shaft 16 carries a pulley 18, bywhich the force-feed cylinder may be driven positively.

The corn and fodder are conveyed to the machine by an endless elevator19, which is preferably arranged in the inclined position shown by Figs.1 and 3 and which has its upper delivery end terminating a suitabledistance from the shellingcylinder, and the space between said deliveryend of the elevator and the shelling-cylinder is spanned by a feed ordelivery table 20, which has its forward end hinged or pivotallyconnected, as at v21, to the rear end of the elevator-frame,the-opposite end of said feed-table terminating in close relation to theshelling-cylinder and being sustained in a substantially fixed relationthereto by any suitable means.

The ears vand fodder deposited by the elevator upon the feed-table arefed or moved across said table by the action of-an elevated comb-feeder22. This feeder is preferably of the endless belt or apron variety, asshown. It is operatively supported by the rollers 23, one of which isbelted to the driving mechanism of the machine for the purpose of beingpositively driven and imparting the necessary traveling movement to theapron or belt,

and the feeder has a series of sharp teeth or blades 24, which areattached to said apron or belt in any suitable manner. The combfeeder isarranged to have its front end terminate over the delivery end of theelevator 19, while its other endis adjacent to the shelling andforce-feed cylinders, whereby said feeder moves the ears and fodderacross the table 20 for delivering the same to the shelling mechanism ofthe attachment.

The ordinary con-cave which is used in connection with thethreshing-cylinder 2 is removed from the machine 1, and it is replacedby a shredding-concave 25, which lies in inclined relation to thethreshing-cylinder 2 and the shelling-cylinder 6, said concave being inrear of and close to the shelling-cylinder, as shown by Fig. 1. Thisshredding-concave has its working surface formed by a plurality of shortsharp teeth 26, which operate in connection with the teeth on thethreshing-cylinder to cut the partially-shredded fodder and complete themutilation thereof, and said shredding-concave 25 is further providedwith transverse openings or slots 27, through which the grains of cornwhich have been shelled or loosened from the cars by the action of theshelling and threshing mechanisms are free to pass and lodge upon thegrain-pan 3 of'th threshing-machine 1.

As before indicated, thelong spikes or teeth of 'the ordinarythreshing-cylinder are removed and their place is supplied by thedouble-edged teeth 28,which are reversibly attached to the bars of thethreshing-cylinder 2, so that when one edge of atooth becomes dulled thetooth may be reversed to present its un- 'used sharp edge for service. Iprefer to provide each tooth 28 of the threshing-cylinder with anextended shank 29 and with a nut 30, by which the tooth may be securedrigidlyin place in the bar of the cylinder 2, and as the nut 30 canreadily be loosened the tooth may be reversed,for the purpose beforementioned My invention is not restricted to any particular arrangementof the shelling-concave and force-feed cylindecwith relation to theshelling-cylinder, and in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings I haveillustrated different positions of the shelling-concave and theforce-feed cylinder to said shelling-cylinder. As shown by Fig. 1 of thedrawings, the force-f eed cylinder lies above the shelling-cylinder,while the shelling-concave extends from said forcefeed cylinder partlyaround the shelling-cylinder and terminates at its lower edgesubstantially in rear of the shelling-cylinder 6 and adjacent to thethreshing-cylinder 2. In this arrangement of the parts. theshellingcylinder 6 is adapted to be driven or rotated in a reversedirection to the revolution of the threshing -cylinder, as indicated bythe arrow, while the force-feed cylinder '11 rotates in a reversedirection to the shelling-cylinder and in the same direction as thethreshingcylinder, as shown by the arrow. In Fig. 3 of the drawings theconcave and force-feed cylinder are shown in operative relation to theunder side ofthe shelling-cylinder, and when the parts are arranged asshown by this figure the feed-table 20 and the comb-feeder 22 aredroppeddown to the position shown by said Fig. 3, so that the ears andfodder are supplied to the shelling and force-feed cylinders to becrushed and mutilated thereby and crowded into the passage between theshelling cylinder and concave. In this arrangement of the elementsconstituting the shelling and shredding mechanism the shells ing-concave10 is arranged to deliver to the shredding-concave 25 and the crushedand mutilated ears and fodder are carried by the teeth of theshelling-cylinder along the shelling-concave to be deposited upon theshreddingwoncave, so that the teeth 28 of the threshing-cylinder willdraw the ears and fodder across the short sharp teeth 26 of theshredding-concave to complete the operation of mutilatin g the fodderand to beat the mass, so as to cause the loosened grains of corn to fallthrough the slots in the concave 25 and lodge upon the grain-pan While Ihave shown different arrangements of the force-feed cylinder and theshellingconcave with relation to the shelling-cylinder, I do not desireto restrict myself to the particular organization herein shown, becauseI am aware that the force-feed cylinder and the shelling-concave may beplaced in diderent positions-as, forinstance, in front 7 or in rear ofthe shelling-cylinder. When the forcesfeed cylinder and the concave areplaced below the shelling-cylinder, as shown by Fig. 3, the powerconnections from the threshingmachine to the shelling and shred dingmechanism are arranged to rotate the shelling-cylinder 6 in the samedirection as the threshing-cylinder 2, while the force-feed cylinder isdriven in a reverse direction to the planes of revolution of saidshelling and threshing cylinders, all as indicated by the arrows in Fig.3.

The shelling-concave 10 is held in yielding relation to theshelling-cylinder 6 by means of the pressure-springs 31, and saidconcave isalso adjustably supported to the shellingcylinder for thepurpose of varying the width of the opening or passage between saidconcave or cylinder. I

One of the important features of inven- I tion consists in theemployment of doubleedged teeth on the shelling and shredding concavesand in securing said concaves detach ably in place, so that they may bedisconnected and reversed edge for edge or end for end for the purposeof bringing into service the other unused and sharp edges of the teeththereon.

Persons skilled in the art to which my invention relates are well awarethat in shelling corn the working teeth soon become dulled throughcontinued or prolonged service, and one of the objections to ordinarycorn-shellers resides in the difficulty in keeping the teeth in sharpworking condition. I overcome these objections by the employment ofdonble-edged teeth and securing said teeth to concaves which arereversibly fastened in place, so that when the teeth become dull on oneedge the parts may be reversed to'bring the other edges of the teethinto service; This prolongation in the life and service of the machineis furthered by the doubled edged reversible teeth on thethreshing-cylinder, and the shelling and force-feed cylinders are alsomounted removably in their bearings for the purpose of reversing saidcylinders end for end to permit both edges of the teeth thereon to bebrought into operative relation to the material to be operated upon,such reversal of the cylinders making the teeth self-sharpening.

In the operation of the machine the elcvas tor carries the ears andfodder to the feedtable 20 and the traveling comb-feeder 22 drags theears and fodder from the elevator across said table 20 and delivers tothe toothed shelling and force-feed cylinders. inders partially crushthe ears,,the knives of the cylinder cut the fodder, and the cylinders 611 coact in crowding or forcing the ears and These cylfodder between thecylinder 6 and the concave concave, the teeth of whichthreshing-cylinder drags the fodder and ears violently across and overthe short sharp teeth of the concave 25, thereby completely shreddingthe fodder. The threshing-cylinder runs at a faster speed than .theshelling-cylinder G and the threshing-cylinder acts as a balanceavheeland as a beater,because the threshing-cylinder rapidly carries thecrushed ears and fodder from the shelling-cylinder, thereby preventingbacklash or choking of the shelling-cylinder. The violent agitationgiven to the fodder and crushed ears between the shredding-concave andthreshing-cylinder causes the shelled or loosened grains of corn to passthrough the concave and caught by the grain-pan, and the mutilated orshredded refuse matter and the corn are carried through thethreshingmachine and subjected to the action of the separators, theshoe, and the riddles therein, whereby the refuse is separated from thecorn to be carried over the straw-stacker and the corn is cleaned anddischarged separately from said refuse.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated by Fig. 4 I have shownthe shellingcylinder and the force-feed cylinder as arranged practicallyside by side to be fed or supplied with ears of corn in either a huskedor unhusked condition from a feed-hopper 33. The force-feed cylinderandthe shelling-concave may be arranged on either side of theshelling-cylinder, and said concave is removably secured in place, sothat it may be reversed end for end to prolong the service of its teeth.I also provide the shelling and threshing concaves with comb-teeth,bywhich the concaves are arranged to work in close relation to theshelling and force-feed cylinders and prevent the corn from passingbetween.

the cylinder and concave and obviate choking of the passages by thewedging of fodder between the cylinder and concaves. The machineconstructed as shown by Figs. 1 and 2 has the shelling-concave 10provided at its edges with the comb-teeth 35, so that the edges of theconcave 10 adjacent to the cylinder 11 are in alternate relation to theteeth of said force-feed cylinder 11, While in like manner the edges ofthe threshing-concave 25 are provided with comb-teeth 36 for the purposeof lying close to the shelling-cylinder 6, so that the'co m b-toothededge of the threshing-conder, including :Kafir corn, Milo maize, andJerusalem corn.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and in thedetails of construction may be made by askilled mechanic withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention,and I therefore reserve the right to make such modifications as clearlyfall within the scope of the invention. 4

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. In an apparatusof the class described, the combination of a revoluble toothedshelling-cylinder, a concave arranged in active relation to thecylinder, and having upon its working surface a plurality of teethcooper ating with those of the cylinder, said concave being furtherprovided at the edge thereof with projecting teeth, and a force-feedcylin der arranged contiguous to the shelling-cylinder and having teetharranged to pass be tween the edge teeth of the concave, substantiallyas set forth.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a toothedshelling-cylinder, a toothed shelling concave arranged in activerelation to the shellingcylinder, a threshing cylinder arranged at oneside of the shelling-cylinder in close proximity thereto, a concavecooperating With the threshing-cylinder and having teeth similar tothose of the other concave, both of said concaves having projectingcomb-teeth at their edges, and a force-feed cylinder arranged contiguousto the shelling-cylinder and having teeth arranged to pass between theadjacent edge teeth of the shelling-concave, substantially as set forth.

3. In a threshing and corn-shelling mechananism, a threshing-concave anda shelling concave situated in close relation one to the other and withthe contiguous edges of said concaves provided With teeth which overlapone another, combined With a threshing-cylinder coactiug with thethreshing-concave, a shelling-cylind er in active relation to theshelling-concave, and a force-feed mechanism contiguous to theshelling-cylinder, substantiall y as described.

4. The combination of a revoluble shellingcylinder provided with thedouble edged teeth, a reversible concave having its working surfaceformed with a plurality of series of double-edged shelling-teeth andalso provided at its edges with the projecting teeth, and a force-feedcylinder contiguous, and revoluble in an opposite direction to, theshelling-cylinder, .and having teeth arranged to-pass between the teethon one edge of the concave, the latter being reversible to presenteither of its edge series. of teeth to the forcefeed cylinder as Well asthe teeth on the working face thereof to the shelling-cylinder,substantially as described.

5. The combination of a revoluble toothed til z shelhng-eyhnder, areversible concave pl'omyoWnI have heretoafllxed myslgnatui'e 1n videdwith teeth upon its working surface, the presence of two witnesses. andalso at the opposite edges thereof and a, I T 1 force-feed cylinderhaving teeth arranged to BEAM!" 5 pass between the teeth at one edge ofthe re- Witnesses:

versible concave, substantially as setforth'. M. \VOODLAND, In testimonythat I claim the foregoing as 1 P. L. VEAOH.

